“We are in no danger,” Dave growled.
“He has a point,” Hollace said. “Those shifters wouldn’t leave the basajaunak here with a phoenix and then try to take them out. They’d divide us up better than that.”
I shook my head as the rear doors closed, and shifters took their positions next to the vehicles they’d be traveling in. They were waiting for my crew.
I took Dave’s hand and looked into his eyes. “You be careful, do you hear me? Stay safe. Keep everyone safe.”
The other basajaunak pushed in closer. Phil was wearing his kilt, a construction vest, and hardhat. He put a large hand on my shoulder.
“I can sneak in if you need me to,” he said. “I can blend in.”
He didn’t seem to realize that more than his clothes made him stand out. Normal people weren’t ten feet tall and had hair all over their body.
“Thank you, but you stay here, okay? Don’t let anyone follow us. They might get picked off before they get to us.”
“This is the least fair thing of all the unfair things,” Cyra said, walking up. “Even if they attempted to kill everyone, I can’t die. It’s safer for everyone if I go along.”
“Which is precisely why you didn’t get on the approved list,” Hollace told her. Grinning, he sauntered to the nearest van. He was rubbing it in. Cyra pouted as she watched him go.
Niamh waited beside a beat-up Jeep with scratches along the sides. It was a rental, in the lot right beside a moving truck and three clean and polished passenger vans. We hadn’t bothered with insurance.
“Well,” Niamh said by way of hello. She insisted this peculiar setup had been staged for dramatics. I sincerely hoped her “hunch” was right.
“Miss, watery dredge posing as coffee for the road?” Mr. Tom stopped beside me with a thermos. “I do not understand a town without a coffee shop, but then I also do not understand a town with three morgues and scarcely as many people.”
I frowned, gazing at the deserted highway leading into town. I hadn’t noticed the morgues. That did seem odd.
Austin strode over. He wore a tailored suit jacket and slacks, a dress shirt unbuttoned at the neck, and a pair of loafers without socks. He hadn’t bothered with a tie, cufflinks, or any bells and whistles. He expected to shift and so was keeping up a minimum pretense. Not like I was that much better. I wore a pretty but expendable flowing dress with a stretchy belt around my waist and slip-on shoes. I could shed this in a moment or tear my way out of it.
“Jess.” He wrapped his fingers firmly around my upper arms and looked down into my eyes. “Stay safe, do you hear me? If the worst happens, you fly out of there. You slam them with magic, and you fly. Do not take any chances.”
I smoothed my hand down his hard chest and soaked in those beautiful cobalt eyes. They were filled with concernand love, and they sparkled with unspeakable violence. My accidental pulse of magic felt like a call to arms.
“We’re going to be okay.” I was good at assurances by now. I should be. I said them often enough. “It’s going to work out, you’ll see. We’ll be fine.”
I wished I believed it. I had a bad feeling we were about to find out what was plaguing this mountain.
Austin walked around to the driver’s side door and climbed in. I followed suit.
“Undo that seatbelt, Jess,” he told me. “You might need to get out in a hurry.”
And Iwouldget out in a hurry if he hit a stump and I was ejected from the moving vehicle.
I did as he said. Sometimes it was not easy to override my Jane training.
Austin started forward, leading the procession.
“I forgot to tell Edgar to stay out of trouble,” I murmured, watching the trees rush past. “Or say goodbye to Indigo.”
“I did.” Sebastian reached around the seat to pat my arm. “Indigo was worried, and Edgar gave me an odd smile and possibly a wink.”
“Possibly a wink?”
“One of his eyes randomly closed, which also happens. I think he might be physically falling apart. Is that possible?”
Anything was possible with that vampire.
“I haven’t felt any presences.” Austin directed the Jeep into the center of the road, which had narrowed to a single lane. “If they were watching us back there, they were doing it at a distance.”
